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Blast in Capital hours after security meet

Hours after a meeting of the High-Level Election Security Committee concluded that there are security threats for the second phase of federal parliament and provincial assembly elections, an improvised explosive device went off in the heart of the Capital.

DSP Aphil Raj Bohara of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Singha Durbar, said an unidentified group detonated the IED at around 6:20pm. There were no casualties, said police, adding that the explosion might have been aimed at spreading terror. The blast had left locals panic-stricken. The IED, according to police, was planted at a garbage dumping site.

Though there were incidents of blast and attack on candidates in the run-up to the first phase of elections, voting was concluded peacefully on Sunday. But there has been a resurgence of violent activities since Tuesday, which prompted the security committee to call a meeting on Friday to discuss the security situation for the second phase of polls scheduled for December 7.

Home Secretary Mohan Krishna Sapkota, who was present at the meeting, said a bomb attack in Dang on Tuesday which claimed the life of a temporary cop shows that anti-elections elements will not shy away from taking lives.

“Our response will be to counter such threats with equally strong measures based on the law of the land,” he told the Post.

Binod Chaudhary, 23, was on duty when he was injured in an IED blast targeted at an election rally of the Nepali Congress (NC) which was to be addressed by Prime Minister and NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday.

Chaudhary succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment on Wednesday.

In another incident on Wednesday, Narayan Bahadur Karki, an NC) candidate for the federal parliament from Udaypur-2, and Mira Katuwal, Udaypur district president of Nepal Student Union, and five others were injured when a five-litre pressure cooker packed with explosives was detonated targeting Karki’s vehicle at Dunuwarbeshi of the district. Karki and Katuwal are undergoing treatment at TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu. Katuwal has lost her right leg.

On Thursday, four persons including a minor were injured in an IED explosion in Itahari.

Election Commissioner Sudhir Shah, who heads the High-Level Election Security Committee, said at a press meet that security agencies during Friday’s meeting assured of adequate measures for peaceful and terror-free elections. “The government has assured us that both preventive and curative measures will be taken to control anti-election elements,” he said. The government agencies have informed the EC that as many as 488 people have been arrested so far for their involvement in anti-election activities.

According to Shah, security agencies have identified the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal as a major security threat. Similarly, armed groups too can pose a serious challenge to poll security in the Tarai districts, Shah quoted security officials as saying.

107 incidents of explosion since Nov 15

KATHMANDU: Over 100 incidents of improvised explosive device blast have been reported in the past two weeks, killing one person and injuring 38 others over the past two weeks. A report compiled by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) shows 107 cases of IED blasts across the country since November 15. The NHRC report shows that the highest number of incidents (30) was reported on November 26, the day the first phase of federal parliament and provincial assembly elections were held in 32 districts. According to the report, 25 incidents of clashes between the cadres and supporters of different parties took place in the period, injuring 25 people.

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Established in February 1993, the Kathmandu Post, Nepal’s first privately owned English broadsheet daily, is today Nepal’s leading English language newspaper, with a daily circulation of 82,000 copies. This makes the Post Nepal’s second-most widely circulated newspaper—after Kantipur daily. The Kathmandu Post is also a member of Asia News Network that has over 15 members and is known for its insightful, unbiased journalistic work of the highest calibre. Read more»